


Distress Call

by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan)



Series: Voltron Ficlets [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Separations, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 21:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12441870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyo_chan/pseuds/aurumdalseni
Summary: That little communicator was only for emergencies. No one ever specified what kind of emergencies. Shiro just knows that Keith will be on the other end of the call, and that's what he needs. *season 4*





	Distress Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oldmythologies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldmythologies/gifts).



> Completed commission for oldmythologies, who is a constant source of motivation and encouragement in my writing. Hope you enjoy! <3

Keith groaned, rolling over. A persistent _buzz buzz buzz_ rattled his head and made his entire nest feel like something was shaking it. The moment he realized it was his portable communicator, he snapped awake, on high alert. His hand shot to the cubby next to where he slept, snatching it up. That little device was an idea the BoM had taken from the rebels that had joined the coalition.

It was for emergencies.

Blade in one hand, comm in the other, Keith held his breath as he opened the encrypted link.

“Keith?” Shiro’s static-filled whisper felt like a shout in the silence of his room.

Keith’s heart leapt up into his throat. “Shiro? Shiro, are you okay? Where are you?” He stood up abruptly, his feet tangled up in the blankets.

“It-it’s okay, Keith, I’m not—” Shiro forced himself to take a deep breath. Keith couldn’t see it, but he heard it stuttering over the comm. “I’m not in danger, everyone’s okay.”

Limp with relief, Keith sagged against the nearest wall and slid down until he was sitting with his knees bent to his chest. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. It hadn’t escaped his notice that, even though Shiro had said _everyone_ was okay, he didn’t specifically say _he_ was okay.

“I shouldn’t have used this,” Shiro told him with a self-depracating chuckle. “It’s like breaking the rules.”

“This thing is supposed to be used whenever you need help,” Keith reminded him with a firmness that was gentle in its own way. The last thing he wanted was for Shiro to end the transmission. “Was it a bad dream?” Shiro had a lot of those, going all the way back to their time on the castle ship. Some were worse than others. Keith had been learning how to gauge them so he could fumble through comforting Shiro when they happened, but now that he was so far away, he had to rely on Shiro to tell him. How many nightmares had he had since Keith had left? How bad did this one have to have been for him to use an emergency comm? “I’m here, okay?”

Silence stretched between them. Keith strained to hear Shiro breathing, held the comm close to his cheek, breathed with him.

“Shiro?”

“I’m here,” he finally said. “It was the lab again.”

Keith’s brow furrowed. Those had been more frequent after they’d gotten him back for a second time. “You’re not there anymore. You’re here, you’re safe.” He wanted so badly to say _with me_ , but he couldn’t lie, and they were galaxies apart. The ache spread across his chest.

“Sometimes…I see myself, like I’m looking down at my own face, and I don’t know who I am in that dream.” Every word sounds like a struggle, as if someone were wrenching the words out of Shiro’s throat one-by-one.

“That’s an easy one,” Keith told him. “You’re Shiro.”

“I always run. I keep running away from it, escaping, over and over again. But I always end up right back there.” A crackle of static that may or may not have been a choking sound.

Keith’s hand clenched around the hilt of his knife. If he could cut down all those dreams as easily as he cut down sentries in the shadows, he would do it until nothing came after Shiro ever again. The universe didn’t work like that; this was the only way he could help Shiro fight.

“No, you always end up _here_ , where you belong. You’re always going to find your way home, Shiro. And when you can’t, that’s when I’m going to go get you. As many times as it takes, remember?”

“I hate this.” Shiro finally broke. Keith felt his eyes starting to sting as Shiro’s voice became thick with tears. “I hate all of this. I hate…I hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Keith told him. “You shouldn’t either.”

“Even if everything feels wrong?”

He sounded so lost. Keith hated the distance between them with every fiber of his being. Not only couldn’t he console Shiro as he should, but it only turned the loneliness in himself on a sharper edge, cutting into him. He’d have to see Shiro soon; Kolivan would just have to accept that.

“When everything feels wrong is when you should care about yourself the most. That’s when you’ve been the strongest you can be. It’s when you’re the Black Paladin, and when you’re the most focused and driven, that’s when you make it right. That’s who you are, Shiro. You’re still hurting, but I know what you’re capable of, and flying far past these bad dreams is one of those things. You can do this, I know you can. And when you feel like you can’t, you use this communicator to get me.” He couldn’t promise he would always be there. He knew there were no such absolutes in this war. “I’m here, Shiro.”

“Thanks, Keith.” Shiro murmured.

Keith turned his head ever so slightly to brush his lips against the comm. He wished it was Shiro’s skin. “Anytime. I’ll always pull you back. Doesn’t matter what it’s from.”

“I should go.” It was the last thing either of them wanted.

“I’ll see you soon, Shiro.”

“I hope so.”

The static and Shiro’s voice ended with the snap of the connection ending. The sudden silence was jarring. Keith felt the wetness on his face, and he reached up to scrub it away with the heel of his hand. He wondered if Shiro had known. He hoped not. Keith wanted to be strong for him, especially now that everything was both resolute and uncertain. How bad had it been? Keith crawled back into his nest of blankets and, instead of putting it back on its shelf, clutched the communicator to him, just in case. A selfish part of him wished he could hear Shiro’s voice again.

But he knew what it would mean if he did.


End file.
